Golden State Today

There were 200 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in California during the week ending May 28, 2022, a 4.2% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending May 28, 2022, there were 4,692 deaths in the state. 20.9% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 22% were from cancer and 5.4% were from COVID-19.

Studies show doctors and medical examiners may underreport Alzheimer's disease and dementia-related conditions as the underlying cause of death on death certificates, according to the National Institute on Aging.

Once infected, older adults with dementia are likely to develop a more severe and dangerous illness. The diseases which make an older adult more vulnerable to COVID-19 are age-associated chronic conditions, according to the Bright Focus Foundation.

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending May 28, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending May 21, 2022
Heart disease	979	1,032
Alzheimer's disease	332	299
Cerebrovascular diseases	265	279
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	200	192
Diabetes mellitus	166	178
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	143	121
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	111	78
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	86	79
Influenza and pneumonia	75	79
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	1,030	1,083